


The Chinese Silk Murders

by Claire_cz



Category: Judge Dee Mysteries - Robert van Gulik
Genre: Case Fic, Gen, crime investigation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2020-12-18
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:15:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28132266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Claire_cz/pseuds/Claire_cz
Summary: Judge Dee has to solve the murder of a rich silk merchant, find out if the merchant's niece is just a clueless member of the family or much more than she seems and also solve a riddle in form of strange letters and bills. There are many suspects and just one murderer. Or more?
Comments: 5
Kudos: 5
Collections: Yuletide 2020





	1. The night, the morning

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Blueinkedfrost](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blueinkedfrost/gifts).



DEE Jen-djieh – Magistrate of the district Minhou in a province near the Capital City

MA Joong – one of Judge Dee’s lieutenants

CHIAO Tai – one of Judge Dee’s lieutenants

HOONG Liang – Judge Dee’s trusted advisor and Sergeant of the Tribunal

GAN Tao – one of Judge Dee’s lieutenants

FAN Fu – silk merchant

FAN Meifeng – his niece

FAN Jie – Meifeng’s father, deceased

LIANG Huan – silk merchant

Mr. PENG – tailor

ZHOU Ning – fisherman, in love with Meifeng

XIA Xiabobo – Fan Fu’s friend from the Capital City

TAN Lan – painter

............................................................................................

„Give it to me,” a man said and took over an object that wasn’t clearly visible in the dark room. “And remember if you tell anyone… Especially now… I will punish you. You know what I can do.”

The woman just lowered her head and then nodded.

“Now go away.”

...........................................................................................

Hoong helped to put a magistral robe on him, then the judge left his chambers and the morning session of the Tribunal started. After the judge delt with administrative matters, a young woman slowly moved forward. She knelt down and touched the floor with her head.

“This unworthy person wishes to report that my uncle has been murdered. He was a silk merchant. I found his body in the shop this morning. I help in the shop too.”  


“Tell the Tribunal your name, your uncle’s name and how do you know he was murdered,” the judge ordered.

“This unworthy person is Fan Meifeng. My uncle was Fan Fu. When I found him in the shop there were bloody wounds on his body and a knife in one of them,” she said quietly but, considering the situation, she appeared quite composed.

“The court session is finished. The murder of Fan Fu will be examined,” the judge decided, and the gong officially announced the end of the morning court hearing. 

“Do you want us to go with you, sir?” Ma Joong, Judge Dee’s assistant and lieutenant at the court asked.

“Of course, Hoong and Tao Gan shall stay here and prepare more documents for the taxes inspection. You and Chiao Tai will go with me.”

They arrived to a very large complex of buildings consisting of the shop, office, warehouse, and the private parts of the complex used by Fan Fu and his niece.  


The chief butler was already waiting for them at the gate.

Judge Dee entered the shop. First, he focused on the figure of a middle-aged man, collapsed on the counter, with a knife sticking in his back – Fan Fu. There were no traces of a fight or robbery in the room. Though the judge noticed a small bruise on Fu’s hand, and one was very probably on his face but the position the body was in and the hair were making it difficult to see.

Ma Joong ran his hand on rolls and rolls of silk stored on the shelves all around the walls. The judge slowly inspected the scissors, rulers, pieces of tailor’s chalk, stacks of papers neatly placed under the counter, stamps, the brushes, and ink. Everything was clean and organized. 

“Look at the rolls, brother. All the silk. If I only had one, I could have any woman I’d wanted,” Ma Joong whispered.

“I’m sure you can do it even without these magical clothes,” Chiao Tai laughed quietly and rubbed the fabric between his fingers.

“Ask the servants about Fu and carefully check the neighbourhood. I will talk to the chief butler and Miss Fan,” judge Dee asked them.

“Miss Fan, tell me how did you find your uncle and what was his usual day like? Did he usually open the shop in the morning?” the judge asked when he sat down in the luxurious guest room in Fan Fu’s residence.

“I went to the shop in the morning to op-… I am often in the shop, it is nothing unusual, even when my uncle was there. I came through the door from the courtyard and immediately saw his back and the knife. One of the servants stayed at the door and I went to the court,” tiredness was palpable in her voice more than sadness or worry.

“When did you last see him?”

“At dinner. My uncle wanted to meet with his friend from the Capital City. He has already visited him a few times, he is very interested in silk trade. However, we’ve never been introduced.”

The judge nodded. “Do you know who could have a motive to kill your uncle? There is a lot of money involved in silk trade and your uncle must have been very rich,” the judge remarked.

Meifeng frowned for a fleeting moment and then dutifully replied. “This was my father’s shop. He was named Fan Jie. He worked extremely hard and thanks to him we have all of this. His younger brother, my uncle, returned here a few years ago. He was a merchant in the Capital City but … he was not so successful. My father helped him and always sent him to the capital for new paints for the silk or to some customers, tailors…” she explained.

“And then,” she sighed. “My father died. And my uncle took over the trade…”

Judge Dee was still silent.

She smiled a bit apologetically. “Of course, I am so sorry, sir. You wanted to know who might have a motive to kill my uncle and not hear a family history,” she sighed again. 

“I don’t know about anyone. There is Mr. Liang, the second-biggest silk merchant in our city. He has… Oh, I do not know much about it, of course. Maybe you could talk with the guild head, Mr. Guo.” She trailed off and did not look at the judge.

“And do you know something about the customers of your uncle?”

“There are the bills,” she gestured towards a shelf with neatly folded documents and an abacus. “The biggest costumer was Mr. Peng, the tailor,” she added.

“Thank you for your help, Miss Fan.”

Ma Joong and Chiao Tai were standing in the courtyard and arguing about who will talk to the servants and who will ask the neighbours.

“Neighbours notice everything!”

“But they might not be telling the truth because they want to take revenge on someone.”

“On the other hand, brother, servants usually don’t say anything because they don’t want to betray their employers.”

A servant was following their argument, went closer and said: “Oh, trust me, I notice things. It was the tailor.”

“Why would he do it? He needs the silk. It doesn’t make any sense.”

“It does, when it’s the tailor who’s smuggling silk. One competitor less, right?” the servant whispered.

......................................................................................................................

After judge Dee returned to the Tribunal, he let a doctor examine the body. The murder caught attention of the people, but nobody offered any explanation in the court hearing.

“The doctor examined the body and thinks that Fu died very early in the morning,” the judge repeated back in his office, with Hoong, Ma Joong, Tao Gan, Chiao Tai gathered around his desk.

“And the bruises, sir?” Tao Gan asked because he was still preparing some documents for the tax inspection and didn’t attend the hearing.

“The doctor was confused at first, but he says that they must be from two days ago. He fought with someone or someone attacked him. I will ask again the chief butler.

Bring him in here,” the Judge ordered to Ma Joong and Chiao Tai. 

“What did the neighbours say? Do you have something interesting?” Chiao Tai looked at Ma Joong.

“The neighbours say that it was usually the girl who was in the shop. Often even alone selling the silk.”

Chiao Tai lowered his voice. “… they say that she was very happily helping his father. And knew about silk more than Fu…”

“Sir, they say she was even wearing men’s clothes. Fu didn’t care about the shop at all. She herself was … almost the merchant himself.”

“Meifeng has a lot of questions to answer! I will ask her in due time,” Judge decided.

“They were also saying that her father almost agreed with her marrying a poor fisherman. But then he died, and Fu of course didn’t want to hear about it,” Chiao Tai added.

“One of the neighbours said she saw him there last night,” Ma Joong said.

“But that was an ancient witch, she is stone-deaf, Sir,” Chiao Tai opposed.

“You did a good job. Now you know how to ask the right questions.”

Ma Joong and Chiao Tai bowed and left.


	2. Afternoon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The investigation continuous.

A visibly nervous chief butler bowed very deeply and waited for the judge to address him.

“Qi, you didn’t tell me everything. Your master was attacked two days ago,” judge Dee scoffed.

“I am so deeply sorry. I did not mean to hide anything. But Mr. Fan was dead, and these people do not know how to behave. He was dishonestly attacked, sir. I personally tended to his wounds. It was one of the craftsmen here, he is mixing paints and painting the silk. Mister Fu hired him sometimes,” he explained.

“May I ask you Sir if you have found the money? I know that Mr. Fan was very angry at the craftsman but then he also said he had to pay him for the paints. Mr. Fan understood the business. He was writing and counting all day, every day. And I saw him taking the money to the shop in the evening. Next morning, he probably wanted to go to the painter. But then… I am so sorry to be bothering you. I liked Mr. Fan,” the servant said.

“The Tribunal will do everything to find the missing money,” Judge Dee said and dismissed the chief butler.

* * *

“Find the painter and question him,” the judge ordered to Ma Joong and Tao Gan.

Ma Joong and Tao Gan entered the painter’s workshop.

“Are you Tan Lan?” Ma Joong asked and Tao Gan began to look around the room full of colourful powders, bowels, brushes, and clothes.

“Why did you attack Fan Fu? Quickly tell us why?”

“He didn’t pay me for the last order. I painted his silk with the most luxurious paints and he didn’t pay me! Of course, I was angry! First, I asked very politely a week ago, but he chased me off. And now I have to buy new materials, I need the money. So, when I met him in a pub, I couldn’t help myself. We shouted at each other and then I hit him a few times. But that’s all! I swear.”

“Where were you yesterday in the morning?”

“I was painting the clothes, of course. The day before yesterday I worked until very late at night. Then my wife made dinner, she was waiting for me and we went to sleep. I left early in the morning again and was working all day yesterday.”

“Hm,” Ma Joong replied noncommittedly.

“And didn’t you come to his shop in the morning, took the money you thought was yours and didn’t you kill Fu while you were there?!” Ma Joong asked and put his big hand on Lan’s shoulder.

“I swear, lieutenant. I needed the money, but I also needed Fu to hire me. Without him who would need me to paint silk? Mr. Liang also buys silk but in much smaller amounts.”

“It wasn’t him,” Tao Gan said when he and Ma Joong bought a rice cake at a stand on their way back to the court.

“He’s living in the completely opposite part of the city. The guards would have seen him leaving the quarter. Because the murder happened even before dawn. And besides, he still doesn’t have the money. There were many powders and bowels but all of them half used or with just the last few pieces left,” Tao Gan explained his theory.

* * *

The judge stepped out of the palanquin and took a look at Liang’s residence. It was also very luxurious but not as big as Fu’s.

“What can you tell us about Fan Fu?”

“I have already heard about the terrible crime. What a sad news. Mr. Fan was a dear colleague of mine. But also…,” he smiled almost imperceptibly. “He was my competitor. Each one of us had different customers, different suppliers, different tailors we worked with, different quality of goods…”

The judge raised an eyebrow, but Liang didn’t say anything else.

“I’m afraid I cannot be of much help for you, sir.”

“Where were you this morning?”

Liang didn’t even blink and calmly answered. “I have to admit I am not an early riser. I was working on my bills yesterday, it is an exhausting work we all must face, and today I got up late. My servant can confirm this.”

“That’s not exactly an alibi,” Tao Gan said when they left.

“But he doesn’t have any motive either. I may not find him very likeable but as he said: different customers, different suppliers… This city is big enough for two wealthy silk merchants,” the judge said.

* * *

“I have a feeling nobody knew Fu well. It is logical though, he moved here a few years ago but travelled a lot. Only tried to lead the trade for a year… We shall talk to the friend of his. Look for him. His name is Xia Xiabobo,” judge Dee said when he took a pile of letters from his sleeves that he found in Fan Fu’s shop.

“He wrote to Fu very often; he might know something. And he saw him yesterday in the evening.”

“He already left,” Chiao Tai announced after a moment. “In the guest house they said that he came there every month and just for one night. We were there when we asked the neighbours, the guest house is in the same street,” Chiao Tai explained.

“Chiao Tai, he’s probably on his way back to the Capital City. Find him, inform him about his friend’s death and bring him to the Tribunal.”

* * *

“What do we do now, Sir?” Ma Joong asked. “We shall look for the tailor. Though the accusation of smuggling is hardly believable…”

Tailor Peng walked a bit unsteadily towards the judge. Judge Dee noticed how pale he was.

“I know you are here because of Fan Fu. I’ve been working with his brother for so long…”

“And what can you tell me about Fu and also about where you were yesterday in the morning?”

“I am afraid I don’t know anything concrete about Fu. His brother was my good friend. So, I continued to get silk from him. Meifeng did everything in her power to keep the trade going…”

Peng quickly looked at the judge and then shrugged.

“I mean everyone knew it so…”

“We heard,” the judge confirmed.

“Yesterday and the day before yesterday I was very sick. In fact, there was a doctor here the whole night. I had a really bad stomach-ache.”

Judge Dee nodded and the tailor visibly relaxed.

“People are saying you might be smuggling silk though!” the judge quickly countered, having noticed how the tailor breathed a sigh of relief just a few moments ago and used this opportunity to surprise him and hopefully get some honest answers.

“Oh…. Sir, I can assure you. This is such an embarrassing case. One of Mr. Fan’s servants somehow took possession of a piece of silk and tried to sell it to me, without Fan knowing. Of course, I refused this. And I also informed Mr. Fan and the guild head. Him, being a servant in such a respectable family, the guild decided to punish him very mildly. And yet he is still saying these defamations. However, I can assure you again that I have all the documents for every yard of silk I bought,” Peng said and wiped the sweat away from his forehead.

“Do you believe him, Sir?” Ma Joong asked. “He was sweating so much as if he was saying hundreds of lies.”

“He was just sick. The guild head praised Peng’s loyalty, honesty, and professional care. I do not think he is a smuggler. Besides there was a doctor with him when Fan was murdered.”

* * *

Judge Dee slowly tugged at his whiskers. “It’s time to talk to Miss Fan again. We shall visit her in her residence.”

“Miss Fan, you haven’t told us everything,” the judge said tersely.

“I answered all your questions, sir.”

“Yes, you answered. But you answered as a clueless niece of a merchant just as we were thinking you were! But you played a role! Now I understand the pauses in your speech, correcting yourself. You did not want us to know that you were taking care of the shop. And I am beginning to think that you wanted more. You did not want just to take care of the shop, but you wanted the money too. Return to the happy days when your father let you do what you wanted…”

“No!!” she screamed.

“I didn’t do what I wanted. I was just helping my father and he was happy because I was the only child and he thought it would be useful if I knew something about silk trade. Even if I would marry and my husband would take over. And my uncle did not know anything about it. My father tried to explain him everything, but he did not care. And when I did not want to close the shop, I had to do it.”

“This might be true, Miss Fan, but you need to answer many more questions.”

Meifeng was silent and judge Dee changed his approach. He looked at the shelves with silk and also the whole complex of buildings.

“Your father must have been a remarkable man. I am sorry you lost him.”

She looked at him with gratefulness in her eyes. “Yes, he was. Everything went so quickly. Something happened to his smelling sense at first. He was smelling almonds everywhere for a week and then he couldn’t breathe one night, the doctor said that his heart was not working and then…,” she trailed off.

* * *

“Zhou Ning!” Ma Joong shouted.

A young, tanned man on a small boat turned towards him.

“Yeah?”

“I’m lieutenant of the court. I have to ask you about Fan Fu and his niece.”

“Nothing to talk about.”

“I heard you were interested in Meifeng.”

“You heard wrong. That was more than a year ago.”

“When did you see him and also her for the last time?”

“I don’t even know. Maybe half a year ago, at the market,” the fisherman retorted.

* * *

The judge let Hoong bring him rice and pour a cup of tea. He calmly sat down and wanted to read and examine the letters he found in Fan Fu’s shop.

“As Confucius says: you cannot open a book without learning something. Let us hope these letters will also allow us to learn something about Fu,” the judge remarked and Hoong nodded and quietly left the room.

“These letters are from Fu’s friend from the capital. He was apparently trying to start trading silk too. As we heard. His letters are very strange though. He is talking about the same thing repeatedly in the letter, just phrasing it differently. Some words are even crossed off. The style is poor. And Fu’s unfinished letter and this older letter he probably forgot to send and left it in the pile look the same…” he mumbled for himself.

The judge was interrupted in his musings due to an unexpected arrival of two special couriers delivering a message from the Metropolitan Court in the Capital City. Hoong put a special cap on the judge’s head and the judge bowed and very ceremoniously accepted the letter. As he read it, he frowned more and more. The judge took a brush-pen into his hand and immediately began writing.

“Dee Jen-djieh shall assure the Metropolitan Court that the man who escaped from the capital and was a member of a group trying to arrange a coup against the Emperor will be found immediately,” he wrote.

* * *

“Sir, I may have found something. But I don’t understand the meaning,” Tao Gan said in a low voice and tugged at the three hairs on his left cheek.

“Tell me what you’ve found,” the judge asked him and gestured at the chair in front of his desk.

Tao Gan sat down and took some documents from his sleeves. “These are the bills from Fan’s shop,” Tao Gan explained.

“They are over a year old, nothing suspicious, undoubtedly written by Fan Jie. Then the handwriting changes. Everything very meticulous. See the numbers here. Just one or two bills occasionally in a much untidier handwriting. I would say this is the same handwriting as in these letters.” Tao Gan pointed at the letter the judge had been reading.

“Do you have a theory?” judge Dee asked.

“I would believe the neighbours; people are nosy and usually also right. So, I think Meifeng took care of the shop. Fu just got all the money but did not do any work. The letter though and these few bills are his.”

“I agree,” the judge confirmed.

“That’s what is worrying me, though,” Tao Gan sighed. “I noticed some small dots appearing on the bills. The oldest are from half a year ago… The paper is not pierced through and through, but the dots are there.”

“On Meifeng’s bills?” the judge asked.

“Well, it’s a theory still… Whoever wrote it though… When you very carefully pierce the paper on the right places, you can send coded messages. We con-men know this.”

“So, someone took both bills, pierced the first bill, for the recipient and some traces were left also on the bill that the merchant keeps for himself. This is a complicated way. Can you read it?” the judge asked.

“It appears to be under the numbers. So, either the numbers are just the numbers and the recipient knows what the numbers are related to. Let’s say they talk only about gold bars… or the numbers are letters, signs and in this case, we can’t decode it, I’m afraid.”

“It is absolutely crucial to know everything about this,” the judge said in a serious tone.

Then he gasped, handed Tao Gan the strange letters Fen Fu received from a friend and asked: “Tao Gan, look at this and tell me, can this be some sort of a code too?”

* * *

“Bring the commandant of the guards here,” Judge Dee asked Hoong.

“Take ten men and follow Chiao Tai. Find him. He was on a way to the Capital City, looking for Xia Xiabobo, Fu’s friend. Do not engage in any way but make sure he is found and they both are back here before sunrise,” the judge ordered and sighed.

He just had to wait.

“Also send fifty men into the streets of the city. Make sure that nothing unexpected happens.”

People of the city he is responsible for possibly conspiring against the Empire was the last thing he wanted to see. But there has not been even a shred of doubt or suspicion, hopefully it was only that unknown man who escaped from the Capital City and maybe was hiding here.

* * *

“I have to admit that this murder is a mystery for me,” Hoong noted.

“The situation is very serious, Hoong. We must find out everything about the letters and Fan Fu’s friend. And in the meantime, we shall look if we can clear somebody from the suspicion or accuse him.”

“We have Meifeng. Her father dies, smelling almonds. His brother takes over the trade but is not interested in it and it is Meifeng taking care of everything. There’s missing money. Meifeng must have noticed but did not say anything to us. There are letters and bills with coded messages. Fu’s competitor, Mr. Liang does not have a motive, the tailor was sick, and he is not a smuggler, as we have established, and the painter has an alibi. The guards in his quarter did not see him leave… The fisherman though. What if the old woman was right and really saw him there that night. He could have taken the money. He might even be the killer. And Meifeng. She is a very independent and mysterious woman...” the judge recited.

* * *

This time he interrogated Meifeng in the Tribunal building.

“Miss Fan, you told me the last time you saw your uncle was at the dinner. Is this true?”

Meifeng bowed her head.

“I… After dinner I went to the shop. I just wanted to finish some work there. And my uncle was there. He came and wanted me to leave. He was probably going to meet the man there. So, I just gave him the bills. And he made it clear to me that I was not supposed to say the truth about who was running the shop. Just in case I met the man…” Meifeng explained.

“When your uncle wasn’t working in the shop, what was he doing every day?”

“He was usually in his room, always writing letters, he was also travelling very often. We didn’t spend much time together and were usually talking only about the silk and money.”

“And the fisherman.”

Meifeng just sighed.

“Zhou Ning is not a fisherman. He is from the Zhou family. Very respectable family from the neighbouring town. But when Mr. Zhou died and there was a bad year, Ning had to take care of his family. So, he left the town, he did not want all his friends and neighbours to see him as a fisherman. He wanted to marry me, and my father agreed. I would have enough money; he would be able to study for imperial exams and then become a civil servant. And we would be happy. But my uncle, obviously, was against it. He wanted me to marry someone rich. Though I think he did not want me to marry soon, he still needed me to help in the store.”

She looked at him almost pleadingly.

“Hoong, give Miss Fan some tea. We will continue in a moment.”

* * *

“It’s more and more motives. She didn’t like him because first he didn’t allow her to marry the fisherman, second because he wanted to pick her a husband by himself, and third also simply just because he took over her beloved father,” Hoong said to Tao Gan and Ma Joong waiting in front of the judge’s room and shook his head.

“Did she do it? I’m betting on the fisherman,” Ma Joong said.

* * *

“Miss Fan, you still haven’t told me everything. The missing money!”

“I don’t know who took it.”

“You knew it was missing. You must have seen it in the evening in the shop. And yet you didn’t announce it in the court.”

“I was afraid for a minute I thought that maybe Ning… We wanted to meet that evening. In the store. But we could not because of the unplanned visit. And I thought that maybe Ning somehow took the money. He wants to marry me, and he is working so hard to take care of his mother and sisters and also to save some money. Fishing will not make you rich though… But it can’t be him. About a month ago I noticed that there were some inconsistencies in the bills.”

She smiled faintly.

“You know that it was my job usually… But my uncle said everything was alright and even punished me for saying this.”

“Now, Miss Fan, I believe you’ve said everything. But remember that it is your duty to inform the court as early as possible about all relevant facts. For now, the court will not punish you. You can go.”


	3. The next day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All mysteries are solved.

It was morning and judge Dee was already exhausted. He almost didn’t sleep last night, still thinking about the murder and the strange messages. Now he took an older letter into his hand. Undoubtedly, written by Meifeng’s father. He was very patiently and excitedly explaining all details about silk trade to his younger brother.

“ _You can find remarks about silk and silk production even in writings of Confucius. He says: about 3000 BC a silkworm’s cocoon fell into the teacup of the Empress Leizu. She wanted to extract it from her cup and began to unroll the thread of the cocoon. She saw such long fibres that she decided to weave some of it. She observed the life of the silkworm and on her husband’s advice began to instruct her entourage in the art of raising silkworms – sericulture. Empress Leizu became the goddess of silk. And sericulture became a carefully guarded secret in the Empire_ ,” judge Dee read Fan’s recounting in the letter.

“ _And of course, there are also many folk tales about silk, as for example the one about Emperor Hoangti and his wife Si-ling. They lived at the time when people wore clothes from animal fur but as the number of animals grew scarce, they wanted to find something else for their people they cared about. One day Si-ling saw a worm spinning something and winding a thread around his body. Si-ling noticed that the worm could make a whole house for himself from the thread. And was still thinking how she could use it and give it to her people. She was putting the cocoons into hot water to make the threads soft and easy to unwind. Then she made a first ever loom and it was possible to weave clothes this way. Grateful people of her country named her the Goddess of the Silkworm_.”

The judge read and for a moment closed his eyes. He saw a smiling woman, very young, maybe Empress Leizu, or Empress Si-ling, he wasn’t sure. Inches and inches of silk running between her fingers. Then he saw another young woman. Meifeng. She touched the silk. A man was standing behind her, looking at Meifeng and also touched the silk. Meifeng and the man disappeared, and he saw Liang, Peng and Tan carrying scissors and paint brushes and also touching the silk. Very far away, there stood Fan Fu and a silhouette of another man. They never touched the silk.

Hoong quietly entered into the room and judge Dee woke up.

Chiao Tai knocked on the door. “We’ve found Xia Xiabobo, Sir. He was in a guest house in the neighbouring district!”

“You did an excellent job, Chiao Tai.”

“We will interrogate the fisherman and, in a few hours, I believe we shall know everything about the murders and the money,” Judge Dee announced to Tao Gan’s and Ma Joong’s surprise.

“Well, brother Chiao Tai was needlessly hunting the friend, Judge Dee already knows who the murderer is even without Xia Xiabobo’s help!” Ma Joong said.

* * *

“You didn’t tell my lieutenant the truth, Zhou!”

“I said everything there was to say. Yes, I didn’t like Fu and I didn’t kill him.”

“Was it Meifeng?”

“You- how did you- she’s innocent.”

“There are not many possibilities, Zhou. You were meeting with Meifeng behind her uncle’s back. Be silent! You were supposed to meet the night Fu was murdered. You either confirm this and tell me about everything you saw, or I will believe you or Meifeng or you both murdered and robbed Fu.”

“I heard your father was a wise man. Act in a way he could be proud of you!”

“You are right, sir. Meifeng and me wanted to meet. We used to meet in the store. It might seem risky to you. But in the evening, nobody ever went there. Fu didn’t go there even at day… But that evening I saw him in the store and how he sent Meifeng away. I was waiting and waiting. In the end, a man came there. And they were bent over some documents it seemed. It took such a long time… Then they seemed to have some disagreements. I left in the middle of the night. This is the truth, I swear, sir. Meifeng is innocent. And me too.”

“This was a wise decision. I heard you were about to do the imperial exams. I hope you still plan to do it.”

“It’s difficult now, sir. I have to work and take care of my family.” Then he straightened up. “It is still my goal, sir.”

Judge Dee left the room.

* * *

“Today the Tribunal will solve two horrible murders, a robbery and also the most serious crime. An attempted coup against the majesty, Emperor of the Empire!” the judge announced, and a gong resounded in the room.

“Bring the prisoner here,” he ordered to Chiao Tai.

“As you can see Xia Xiabobo, the coup is over. We know everything. What is your real name?”

The man looked around the room and then said: “Li Jianguo.”

“The Tribunal knows he was a member of a criminal group trying to prepare a coup against the Emperor. The group was caught in the Capital City. Li Jianguo was on his way to this city already, so he did not know anything. He was on his way to his loyal friend, Fan Fu. Fan Fu was seemingly working all day, writing letters and bills. Instead, it was his daughter taking care of the silk trade. He was sending coded messages and money to the capital and communicating with the conspirators!” Judge Dee explained and the room buzzed with screams of surprise and shock.

“It was Fan Fu himself who was "stealing" the money and the reason why he didn’t pay to the painter for his work. He even punished his niece when she noticed the money started disappearing.”

“Tell the Tribunal how and why did you kill Fan Fu!” the judge snapped at him.

Li Jianguo appeared to understand his faith. He didn’t cry or ask for mercy. He looked the judge in the eyes and calmly answered: “I pride myself for being a man who seized every opportunity if I can say so. The coup was a good plan how to get more power, higher positions. But it was very risky. Fu and others were doing everything in their power to gather money, to collect important pieces of information, but still, it was risky. His silk trade though. Very traditional, plus a skilled young niece who understood the trade. I wanted to marry her, take over the business and get some money. Fu was against it. He fanatically believed in the coup. It was the only thing on his mind for over half a year. We quarrelled. I stabbed him, he died. Then I left the store and immediately left the city after the gates opened,” Li recited.

“You will be sent to the Capital City because attempted coups are judged only be the Imperial Metropolitan Court of Justice. With the utmost thoroughness and strictness,” judge Dee said.

“This Tribunal also states that Fan Fu was a criminal who poisoned his own brother, neglected his duties when he took over the silk trade and conspired against the Emperor. Fan Jie’s body will be soon examined for traces of poison. Fan Meifeng is the rightful owner of the shop from now on. I trust she and her future husband Zhou Ning will take good care of it.”

“We will,” Meifeng whispered with tears in her eyes. “I will also make sure Ning finishes his imperial exams!”

**Author's Note:**

> I have to admit that my expertise in Chinese history and culture is minimal at best. I tried to research all important facts and not leave any blatant errors in the fic, though. 
> 
> For original characters, I used a Random name generator: https://blog.reedsy.com/character-name-generator/language/mandarin-chinese/  
> Minhou is an existing local name, here used for a name of the district.  
> :  
> For the alluded murder with cyanide: https://akroterion.journals.ac.za/pub/article/view/166/237 states: ... Smith suggests that hydrogen cyanide was extracted from the kernels of certain fruits like almonds (as early as 400 BC) and used by Roman poisoners. However, we could find no evidence to corroborate its usage in ancient Rome.
> 
> I also used a brief summary of the fairy tale The Goddess of the Silkworm: http://whisperingbooks.com/Show_Page/?book=Chinese_Folk_Tales&story=The_Goddess_Of_The_Silkworm and the entry "silk history" on Wikipedia. 
> 
> The biggest mystery for me was money. Besides copper coins, it's assumed that at the time of dynasty Tang there already existed banknotes. "Tang merchants rapidly adopted forms of paper currency starting with promissory notes in Sichuan called "flying money" (feiqian). These proved so useful the state took over production of this form of paper money with the first state-backed printing in 1024."  
> Tang Empire was an imperial dynasty ruling China from 618 to 907
> 
> ........................................................
> 
> I have read all Robert van Gulik's (and some of Frederick Lenormand's) books about Judge Dee. However, I haven't read any of them in English. I hope that there aren't many big inconsistencies caused by this.


End file.
